


A Funny Thing Happened

by orphan_account



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 15:35:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7177586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for a prompt on tumblr where Betty is an art teacher and Thorgy is a music teacher.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Funny Thing Happened

“I’m sorry, Ms. Ruhren, but policy dictates that you must have another chaperone for this kind of field trip.”

“Please, I’ve been doing this forever, I think I can handle it.” Betty rolled her eyes at the principal. “Besides, where are you going to find someone before this Friday?”

Betty Ruhren had been running the yearly art field trip at her fancy private charter school for the past decade. Before her the school had always hired a guide from the museum to show them around, but new authority didn’t have the best track record of keeping students in line while they were 100 miles away from parents and administration.

 Betty’s no nonsense attitude and unwavering strength in the face of teenage rebellion quickly made itself known when she started working and since the first time she was given the opportunity to chaperone she had never gone back. It wasn’t always popular with the students, but in her time there not one had been lost or injured due to their own stupidity.

Earlier that year the assistant art teacher who always accompanied her quit suddenly without warning, but Betty didn’t think that would have any impact on her plans until now.

“We’ve already got someone.” He tried to placate her. “Ms. Galligan, the new music teacher, you know her right? She seemed very excited to join you when we brought it up.”

Betty knew Ms. Galligan. She was loud and unkempt and wore too much eyeliner, not that Betty was one to talk, and her glasses were not something any sane human should be caught wearing.

But for some reason Betty was attracted to her, _really_ attracted. Her long long legs went on for miles and the fact that she only ever seemed to wear extremely short skirts and fishnets didn’t help matters. She had a wild mane of hair that was rarely pulled back, but when it blew into her eyes it made her look like an 80’s supermodel on the worst days. Even her stupid makeup made her look hot.

So she was going on the trip and Betty was screwed.

After school that day Betty decided to meet up with her newly recruited help to make sure there were no misunderstandings about what would happen that weekend. She made her way down the long hallway to the music room and knocked on the open door frame. A wild head of hair popped up from behind the piano at the sound.

“Oh! Hey, I was just thinking about you, are you here to talk about this weekend?” Thorgy made her way around the room to her messy desk that Betty was waiting by.

“Yes, I brought you a copy of the itinerary, you’ll find everything on the schedule in there, make sure you’re not late because I have it planned to the minute.”

“Thanks, Betty!” She smiled widely, “But, I used to live in the area so I was brainstorming some things we could do with the kids, and there’s this really nice spot where you can see all the street artists on Sundays. It’d be really great for them to experience a different view of the art world, you know what I mean?”

The twinkle in her eyes frustrated Betty to no end, how could someone like her make it to adulthood without their spirit being crushed.

“Listen, Galligan, I’ve been going on this trip for ten years and you are not messing this up for me.”

Her lips parted to say something, but she just nodded in understanding first.

“Well, speaking of art, do you know why Van Gogh became a painter?”

Betty did, she also knew that the woman in front of her had probably mispronounced his name on purpose, but because she didn’t know where this was going she just blinked slowly at her.

“Because he didn’t have an ear for music!” She laughed out loud at her own joke, and then seemingly louder at the sound of her own laughter.

Betty’s jaw dropped as she suddenly realized she was saddled with a complete nut and would be for an entire weekend long field trip.

She left the papers on Thorgy’s way too messy desk and turned away to wonder what she had gotten herself into.

Thorgy smiled to herself as she watched Betty walk away, her high heels clicking down the hallway even after Thorgy lost sight of her.

She hadn’t had a chance to get to know Betty that well in her few months of teaching, but she was fascinated by the older woman. Her classroom was the closest to the building’s entrance and she always left the windows open, only allowing natural light for the students to work in. Everyday Thorgy would take her time walking in so she could look into her classroom.

Betty had unnaturally blonde hair, and the ends were often dyed even more unnatural colors than that. She consistently wore a paint stained smock covering her meticulous outfits, and Thorgy had never seen her in a pair of shoes that had a heel below 4”.

Thorgy was embarrassed to think about how the sound of them hitting the hard floors of the building sent a shiver down her spine. Her constant severe expression didn’t help things, and Thorgy was pretty sure if she ever saw her wielding a yardstick she would drop dead on the spot.

There was only one person she had shared these thoughts with, and only because right after meeting Betty for the first time she panicked and called her best friend, Bob, to ask if it was inappropriate for someone with a teacher kink to continue their new job as a teacher.

She of course just laughed and asked the girl’s name, but it was very stressful at the time!

She knew Betty didn’t seem to impressed with her so far, but they had a whole weekend together to change that.

…

Betty’s students loved Thorgy. This she found out very quickly on the morning of the field trip. After many years of the exact same thing Betty knew what to expect at 8:00am on a Friday morning, that’s why she was a little in shock to see that instead of ten bleary eyed teens huddled around cups of coffee there were ten eager students already gathered around her co-chaperone.

One girl that must have class with her was hoping out loud that Thorgy had brought her violin while others nodded in agreement and Thorgy laughed along. Even students that Betty knew for a fact didn’t have a class with her were drawn in by her infectious cheerfulness.

When Betty walked up to the group Thorgy waved enthusiastically, and the kids started to disperse, apparently the party was over now that the ‘bad cop’ had arrived.

Thorgy didn’t notice the student’s reactions, she was too busy taking in Betty’s appearance. She was clearly taking advantage of being out of the classroom today, she wore a high neck white dress that made her look almost angelic, matching the way her hair was carefully arranged in a crown around her head. She couldn’t stop herself from glancing at her feet where a pair of extremely high floral platforms rested.

Thorgy gulped in a way she hoped wasn’t as suspicious as it felt.

“Good morning, Betty.” She smiled.

“Please call me Ms. Ruhren while we’re in front of the students.”

“O-oh! Okay!” This was going to be harder than Thorgy thought.

They boarded the bus quickly when it arrived and Thorgy went to sit in the back and keep an eye on things while Betty confirmed the itinerary with the driver. Thorgy was looking forward to having the whole ride to talk to Betty.

By half way through the bus ride Thorgy was driving Betty crazy. She had insisted on sharing the two-person seat in the back of the bus with her and for the last 20 minutes she hadn’t stopped talking. Now, it wasn’t the talking that was the worst part, but what came along with it. Thorgy’s hands gesticulated wildly with every story and when they weren’t twisting around in the air they were grabbing Betty’s wrist, or stroking her knee in a gesture that would be all too intimate if it weren’t Thorgy behind it.

If that wasn’t bad enough her long legs were constantly brushing against Betty’s own. She could feel the drag of fishnet stockings against her own bare skin and it was almost too much to bare. She tried to counteract it by sitting up as straight as possible and only responding in clipped, professional tones, but it just seemed to make Thorgy lean into her more in an effort to break down her walls.

Thorgy didn’t understand what she was doing wrong. It seemed like every time she and Betty really started getting into a subject something would happen to set her off, making her stop talking and move away. She had really hoped this weekend would be the beginning of…something at least.

…

The first stop was a rather small museum with an eclectic assortment of both new and historical art and artists, for some reason Thorgy was expecting something more upscale or a classic like The Met. She was pleasantly surprised with the choice either way, and it made her wonder how much input Betty had on where they went.

Just as she was about to turn and ask the other woman standing near her they were interrupted by a loud voice.

“Hey Thorge!”

Betty and Thorgy both turned to see where the voice had come from.

A gorgeous dark skinned woman was walking up to meet ‘Thorge’ her long natural hair was pushed back with a headband and her large beautiful lips were painted red and curled at the corners as she smiled familiarly. Betty thought to herself that even if Thorgy was gay, if this is the kind of woman she attracts she didn’t have a chance in hell.

“Bob! I didn’t know you worked at the museum!”

“I just started, something’s gotta pay bail.” She laughed, and Betty who had been trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible felt her eyes dart towards the woman, ‘Bob’ she guesses. She wondered what kind of maniacs Thorgy made friends with that had to make bail.

“Who’s your friend?” Bob asked Thorgy as she made eye contact with Betty.

“Oh!” Thorgy exclaimed, she seemed to just remember that Betty was there. “This is Ms. Ruhren, we’re chaperoning together.”

Thorgy chuckled nervously.

“Ms. Ruhren?” she asked, sticking out her hand for Betty to shake.

“Betty.” She elaborates, accepting her hand firmly.

“Betty!” She exclaims with a little too much familiarity. She looks back at Thorgy with a smile on her face. “It’s great to meet you.”

She turned to Thorgy fully this time.

“Don’t be a stranger, all right? I’ve got to get back to work, but good luck!”

“Thanks, _Bob_.” Thorgy rolled her eyes before turning back to Betty. “Sorry about that, my friends from the city are a little…eccentric.”

“Coming from you, I believe it!” Betty giggled, before she seemed to catch herself. Thorgy wished she hadn’t.

…

Having to lay in a bed and try to sleep while knowing Thorgy was doing the same just a few feet away was torture for Betty. They hadn’t talked much since getting the kids situated and retiring to their own room, but Thorgy had an extensive nighttime routine involving a lot of dancing around in shorts and a tank top so worn out and thin, not to mention out of style, that she must have had them since the 90’s. She also had tied her hair up into a high bun to take of her makeup, leaving the long line of her neck bared, Betty wanted nothing more than to bite the newly exposed flesh, and the thought of that made her blush despite herself.

Without makeup Thorgy looked very different, but no less gorgeous. Her freckles were more pronounced and Betty could now see that they covered her entire face, they were just darkest around her eyes where they were always visible. Her eyes looked bigger and brighter when they weren’t covered by a layer of thick black liner, and her skin was naturally clear, with a pink blush on her high cheekbones.

On the other side of the room Thorgy turned over for what felt like the hundredth time that night. The first day alone with Betty hadn’t been as disastrous as it could have been, but Thorgy couldn’t stop thinking of what she could have done differently, and what she would do and say tomorrow.

She knew she had a problem with overthinking, but there was nothing to stop her, after a few minutes of tossing and turning she gave up and reached for her phone sitting on the night table between the two beds. Luckily she had found it between her couch cushions before the trip, and hopefully the backlog of texts and emails would be able to take her mind off things for the moment.

There were a few old texts from Bob as well as one from today, probably something embarrassing that she didn’t want to read now. One text caught her eye from an old colleague, apparently she had missed a chance to audition for the orchestra of a Broadway bound show, oops. For some reason her roommate had texted her last week, idiot.

The light from her screen must have been more noticeable than she hoped because she heard rustling from the other bed.

“Thorgy?” Betty asked, adorably sleepy.

“Yeah?” she whispered back.

“Go t’sleep.” She mumbled, turning around again.

Thorgy took her advice, glancing once at her pale shoulder that was peeking out from the covers before turning her phone off and settling in again.

…

The second day of the trip was devoted solely to the student’s creations. They were instructed to take inspiration from something they had seen the day before and make a piece to show when they were back in class on Monday. The instructions were purposefully vague and Betty secretly loved it when students based theirs off something that was not actually on the itinerary.

It was a beautiful day too, so Betty and Thorgy dragged the students across the street to a park where they could work.

Betty took a seat on a bench underneath a tree while Thorgy danced her way through the maze of easels and sketch pads the students had set up. She had lost her shoes shortly after arriving claiming she loved the feeling of grass, and Betty wondered again how this woman, full of childlike wonder, was real.

She was still watching in awe when her movements turned into full on acrobatics. Thorgy was literally cartwheeling through a park.

Luckily for both Betty’s sanity and the eyes of the children around them Thorgy had forgone her usual short skirt for a loud patterned jumpsuit. The wide legs of it blew around in the wind as she tumbled through the grass while students laughed along with her.

“Please let them concentrate on the assignment.” She called.

Betty was used to being seen as the bitch among her colleagues so she didn’t mind being a little selfish about having Thorgy to herself this time. Some of her students sighed, but went back to their work as Thorgy made her way back to the bench where Betty was sitting.

“Well now you’ve messed up, I only have you to annoy now.” Thorgy joked as she sat to join Betty.

“I don’t see why that’s a bad thing.”

“Just wait until I break out the violin, I can make Bach sound like…well, _Bach_.”

Betty covered her mouth to laugh slightly.

“Hey, Thorgy.”

She looked back at Betty quizzically.

“You know the difference between a violin and a fish?”

Thorgy’s lips curled up in a smile as she shook her head.

“You can’t ‘tuna fish’.” She replied, looking up from beneath her long lashes.

Thorgy burst out laughing, harder than she had in a long time.

“Oh thank god!” She exclaimed, wiping tears from her eyes.

“What?”

“I thought you were just some kind of fantasy I’m obsessed with, but you’re actually a total dork and I love it!”

Betty felt her heart stutter at the non-admission, and the extremely odd confession.

“You know you’re crazy, right?” She asked, a small smile on her face.

“I’ve been told that once or twice.” Thorgy joked, pulling out her violin from her bag behind the bench. “Now let’s get this party started.”

For the next few hours Betty sat and watched Thorgy play. The sunlight would glint of Thorgy and her instrument making her look otherworldly and she would pull a face every once in a while to try and make Betty laugh. She usually succeeded and when she took a break they would playfully joke around, the ice from yesterday finally broken.

Betty would never admit it, but even when they stopped at the hotel’s restaurant she kept trying to sneak glances at Thorgy from across the large dining table where the whole class sat, the two adults on either end.

…

When they finally retired to their shared room, after making sure every student was in their room and accounted for they were able to share a moment alone.

 “Betty, I-”

“Look, this-”

They both spoke at the same time.

“Sorry, you go first.” Betty recovered.

“I had a really great time today.”

“Me too.”

“And I’d really like to…have more time with you.” Thorgy looked her in the eyes, questioning, from beneath her thick eyeliner and thicker framed glasses. “If you’d like, I mean…to see me um, again. You know?”

“Yes.” Betty breathed, taking a step closer.

“Yes?” Thorgy closed the final gap between them.

Slowly they leaned towards each other, Thorgy licking her lips quickly.

“Wait.” Betty put her hand on Thorgy’s chest to stop her.

“What’s wrong?”

“We’re working…this is a little inappropriate, don’t you think?” Betty bit her lip around her piercing nervously.

“There’s nothing against the rules about faculty dating each other.” Thorgy tried to sooth her.

She paused at the mention of dating.

“I just mean…maybe we should wait until the kids aren’t around.”

Thorgy laughed a breath.

“Kids? Betty, these students are almost adults, some of them technically already are.” _Scary thought_. “Besides they’re all asleep now.”

“I guess you’re right…” Betty sighed, but she still didn’t look convinced.

“We don’t have to… _do anything_.”

“I know, but that doesn’t make me stop wanting to.”

“Well, I wouldn’t like to keep a lady from what she wants.” Thorgy joked.

“You’re an idiot.” She replied, grabbing Thorgy by the hair, forcing their lips to meet.


End file.
